Hanging loft from glulam beam, pics inside.
 

I am in the process of building a loft in my attached garage. I need more space on the floor to work, and my current shelving in the back is taking up to much precious space... so the only result is hang it up... get all the little things off the shelving and make it easy access for the wife.

My thought process is to build a loft essentially hanging off the back and side walls of the garage and only the leading edge will need to be attached to the glulam some how...... ( now keep the whole," putting to much weight up there. You need to make sure your beam can hold the weight. Stuff to your self.... I only plan on loading the back portion of the loft, closest to the wall, so the beam is only seing minimal additional load holding up the leading edge of the loft)

My question is this... I found this gentlemans Idea online
http://homerefurbers.com/projects/167

Mine will be VERY close to this ..... however he stated he attached his "hangers" if you will to the side of his glulam with nails and says its fine.... I don't like that Idea.... but can find no answers online about attaching to the top... and your standard "hangars" are not going to work....

So my thought is, to get some 6" channel. And use it as essentially a "saddle" if you will on the top of the beam, then attach rods from those to hold the leading edge of the loft. Thus placing the load on the top of the beam without the need to attach/drill the side..... (see images)

Am I on the right track? is there a easier/better way of attaching? the internet is vauge on this (understandably so)... so any help would be appreciated.

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That's right. There is no one here on the internet that can possibly tell you what to do. If anyone did give you structural advice here, you will be a fool to take it. You need to higher an architect or engineer to come out and look at what you have there to give you an answer.

DITTO THIS!!!!! The described proposal is a disaster waiting to happen.

Mind elaborating a bit......

Usually what an Inspector will want to see if the load the beam can carry
And your calcs about the extra load you intend to put on the beam
Lam/LVL etc beams need these calcs done by an engineer
There is no guessing
In many cases these beams are not made to carry any extra load

Disaster waiting to happen....you put what you think is a light load up there
....and the beam fails

I had my LVL's oversized to allow for storage to be hung off of them

some one with some useful info.... Thank you....


Hence the reason I am asking.... above the lam is my sons bedroom, back wall is also load bearing as it has the footing for the back of the garage there.....


I had the builder install the beams in the garage to eliminate the post that would normally be at the attachment point of the 2 glulams (see top view) so the 3 car did not end up with a post in the middle of it.....

on edit: who can tell you these things? The beams do not have any names on them, I have images of the entire house throughout the framing process. They measure aprox 5"x20"x20'

Every beam in my house was sized by an engineer
I recd info stamped by an engineer on their load capacities
Without that stamped paper/info/plans then you need an engineer to look at the beam, determine Mfg, size & load on the beam
Then determine any extra load the beam can handle

Possibly your builder has the plans/info or your building dept
My building Dept recd & kept copies of my plans including the stamped info from the engineer

First misconception is that you will only load the loft at the back; against the wall. Gaurantee that the entire loft space will be filled in short order, and loaded much heavier than you may intend.

Secondly, the beam you intend to hang this structure from was engineered to carry it's existing load, not with the intentions that someone would hang a storage loft from it one day. So without an engineer approving the additional weight on the beam and designing the hanging supports, there is potential for structural failure.

Does this mean you had the house built from a builder with plans drawn from an architect?


If the answer is yes from my question, then your architect will tell you what to do.

Sounds like you have plans from an architect since you have pictures from the framing process.

why can't you just install some 4x4 posts in each corner and transfer the load of the loft to the garage floor. I would think that would be much stronger and very safe. Kind of like having a deck but inside your garage.

Look guys I am not trying to skirt the issue here. I am not that way.

Was trying to get some input is all.....

Plus part of my sons room is over that garage space, (see drawing, listed as I-joists) half of his bedroom is sitting over the wall, and half inside the wall....... I am sure that this beam can support it, I just want to do it right.....

My reasoning for thinking is its a bed room there has to be some "overengineering" if you will. to account for beds, furnature, people etc.... Hell I can put 6 guys in that room above and the beam is going to hold it..... but for how long is the question.....

I will do more research, talk with my architect friend, and my engineer uncle and get more input.........

As for the 4x4 posts..... LOL I can do that but that defeats the purpose of the beams :)

How exactly are you "sure"?

It seems like you are just guessing.

And since you are far from a professional on this topic, making guesses is the exact opposite of "doing it right".

How can you not get a set of plans from a builder when he';s building your house? Better yet, how could you not even ask for a set? Did he draw the plans or have his architect draw the plans? You HAVE to have a set and the building department HAS to have a set.

All you need to do is go down to the building department and get a copy of your plans. Your house had to be inspected and you had to get a CO you live in the house. Everything is on file with the town.



Sounds like you already skirted a big issue when you had your house built by accepting a piece of paper for you plans.

What makes you so sure? How can you possibly think that?

Doing the right thing is getting your plans and talking to the architect who drew them and asking him what to do. No one here on the internet can help you because they did not design your house. The right thing for you do do is stop assuming the beam can support what you want to do and talk to the right people about your situation. It's just common sense.

Again, this is something you have to ask the architect who drew the plans, or ask your building inspector what to do because you will have to get something in writing from an architect or engineer and get permits and inspections anyway to do this.

Did you plan on getting permits and inspections?

That is your only way to do it right. I still don't get that you have no plans for your house. I have never heard of such a thing before.

Another one giving what he thinks is good structural advice. That's why this forum is dangerous. Inexperienced people throwing out structural advice when they have no idea what they are talking about.

If you were to load that beam and put a post at the end of the loft and transfer that load to the garage floor, you would have to have a footing there to support the post and the load. The garage floor cannot do that.

How is that like building a deck? Decks need footing to support the posts and the load above.

Asking people on a DIY'er site is not the place to get structural advice and then follow that advice. Ask professional architect/engineer or contractor where you start. A diy'er site should guide you in the right directions by telling you who to talk too, not give out beam, post sizes or what size headers to use when ripping out bearing walls, or better yet telling you that you don't have a bearing wall from the internet and not even looking at your house.

Very dangerous and foolish because some day the person you give this bad advice to might follow it and hurt someone.

Does that not even cross the mind or even concern the inexperienced person giving out structural advice?

Wackerjr, can you build a platform from doubling the front joists (no glu-lam attachment) that run the width of the garage? What is the span measurement?

Gary